


Be My Boyfriend

by atributetotheclassicmovies



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: A lot of love XD, Alternate Universe - High School, And Gwaine the matchmaker, First Time, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Merlin the new student, Pining Arthur
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-24
Updated: 2017-05-24
Packaged: 2018-11-04 10:49:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10989384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atributetotheclassicmovies/pseuds/atributetotheclassicmovies
Summary: Arthur Pendragon, the captain of Camelot High soccer team, was in love with Merlin Emrys. But the problem was, he was too shy to talk to Merlin.





	Be My Boyfriend

“Then Percy and I thought…” Gwaine took a bite from his apple and chewed noisily. “that we should just ignore him completely…” 

“Umm.” Arthur responded distractedly. 

He liked Gwaine, regarded him as a great friend and an excellent player on his soccer team, but sometimes, he really talked too much. Fortunately, Arthur already mastered the skill of pretending to listen to someone, but was actually thinking about something else completely. 

Such as now. 

“Are you listening to me, Arthur?” Gwaine nudged Arthur with his elbow, hard enough to bruise. 

“Yes, yes, Gwaine!” 

He moved closer and looked into Arthur’s eyes carefully. 

“Nope, you’re lying, Arthur. I can see it from your eyes.” 

Arthur rolled his eyes and ignored him. Gwaine stared at him for a few more seconds then looked over to where Arthur was looking. 

“You’re watching Merlin again!” He declared loudly, like a treasure hunter discovered a huge box of jewelry. 

“Will you just shut up, Gwaine!” 

He blushed and pretended to be suddenly interested in his unfinished lunch. 

“Why don’t you just go and talk to him?” 

“GWAINE!!!” 

Seriously, Arthur wanted to strangle him so much now. But Gwaine was right. He was watching Merlin, had for days. Merlin Emrys just transferred to Camelot High this semester, and he had caught Arthur’s eyes immediately. He had everything Arthur loved about: slightly curled dark hair, slim-built, big bright blue eyes, pink full lips, and very, very adorable. All in all, Merlin was his dream boy. Arthur especially loved his smiles, which always seemed to light up the world. Despite clearly knew that he was in love with Merlin, the stubborn side of him didn’t want to admit it. He kept convincing himself that love wasn’t for him; it was silly, that the captain of Camelot High soccer team would never behave like a love-struck girl, but this attempt didn’t make his feelings for Merlin diminish, rather, it increased to a degree that was unbearable. Maybe Gwaine was right, he should talk to Merlin. Yes, tomorrow, they had literature class together. 

 

Okay, he was going to talk to Merlin, but the problem was, he didn’t know how. Maybe he should ask his older sister Morgana, she seemed to have a very good idea on what was love. She had been in a steady relationship with a younger man named Mordred for two years now, and from what Arthur had heard, they were very happy together. He also once overheard her giving advice to her friend Gwen on how to confess her love to a guy named Lance. But when he carefully thought over his problem again, he didn’t really want to talk to Morgana about Merlin, not yet at least, she would probably make fun of him. 

So, Arthur went on the internet for possible solutions, browsing websites through websites, which poured out all kinds of relationship advice. None of them made any sense to Arthur. He slumped down onto his bed; he had never felt like such a loser in his whole life. In the end, he fell asleep without doing his homework and without changing into his pajamas.

......

Despite all the challenges, Arthur woke up the next day determined to talk to Merlin in the literature class. He took a cold shower, ate his breakfast quickly, and grabbed his lunch bag as he walked out of the door. 

Pendragon family would never give up that easily. 

The whole morning, Arthur was waiting for that literature class, and he continued to run through those questions he wanted to start out a conversation with Merlin. 

'How are you, Merlin?' 'Isn’t the weather nice today?' 'How do you like Camelot High, is it very different from your old school?' (They were lame, Arthur knew that, but these were the best he could think of) 

So when the bell rang for his literature class, Arthur rushed into the classroom, eagerly looking for Merlin. He saw Gwaine, Percy, and a couple of familiar faces entered the classroom, but none of them was Merlin. Arthur drummed his fingers impatiently on the desk. There would be no chance once the class started. In a surge of panic, he forgot the questions he wanted to ask Merlin and let out a low curse. Gwaine eyed him curiously and opened his mouth. But before he could utter anything, the teacher, Mr. Leon (the students called him Sir Leon, because the way he wore his hair made him looked like a medieval knight), had arrived. Arthur sighed. Seemed like Merlin won’t be here today. 

But about ten minutes into the class, Arthur heard loud footsteps, and Merlin entered the classroom, breathing hard. Arthur’s face lit up. Merlin’s face was flushed and his hair was slightly damp from sweat. 

Damn, why was he so adorable? 

 

The lesson dragged on, and Arthur wondered why Sir Leon didn’t give them an in-class project today, so he could talk to Merlin, at last. He used the corner of his eyes to watch Merlin, who sat a few seats away from him. Merlin seemed to be very attentive to the lecture, his mouth fell slightly open, and he jotted down some notes from time to time. Arthur imagined himself sitting beside him, and he held out his hand to cover Merlin’s, then he turned and gave Arthur his brightest smile… He hummed happily at his romantic imagination, completely forgot that he was still in the classroom. He felt a light tap on his shoulder, and his mind automatically called out the name he had desired for so long. 

“Merlin?” 

He turned back his head and found it was actually Gwaine looking at him with his eyes narrowed. 

“Gwaine!” 

Gwaine and Percy were standing beside his desk. He looked around in confusion, and saw most of his classmates stood up and talking. 

“Is the class over?” Arthur asked, but Sir Leon was still in the classroom. 

“No, Arthur, he wanted us to divide into group of four, and we’ll be presenting next week.” 

Arthur’s mind automatically went to Merlin. Gwaine gave him a go-ahead nod, and Arthur slowly approached Merlin, who still seemed to be alone without a group. He took a few deep breaths; this would definitely work out, Merlin, Gwaine, Percy, and he would be a group. However, when he stopped in front of Merlin, and Merlin smiled at him, Arthur’s brain turned blank and all his words forgotten. He just froze there like a stick. Then he saw Cenred and his girlfriend Morgause, two of the students he disliked the most, approached Merlin. They were obviously going to ask Merlin to join their group. 

NO! NO! NO! HE’S MINE! Arthur screamed internally. 

But his legs were out of control, as he helplessly watched the tragedy unfold in front of him. 

“Sorry, he’s taken.” 

A familiar voice sounded beside him, and Arthur saw Gwaine led Merlin into their group. Cenred gave Gwaine a hateful stare and turned away murmured lowly. Arthur gave his friend an appreciative nod and found he could move his legs again.

......

Sunday morning, Arthur invited Gwaine, Percy, and Merlin to work on their project at his house. He was sure that this time, under familiar surrounding, with his close friends, he would be able to talk to Merlin. His father Uther had gone to the gym to work out and Morgana was still at Mordred’s place. Arthur cleaned up the house a little and opened up a few bags of snacks. He mentally reviewed what he wanted to say to Merlin again and waited for his friends to arrive. The doorbell rang and Arthur thought it was Gwaine, who had just texted him saying that he would be a little bit late. But when he opened the door, it was actually Merlin standing in front of the doorway, holding a little paper box in hand. 

“Hello, Arthur, sorry I’m a little late.” 

Arthur froze; he couldn’t believe he lost his nerve again! 

Merlin beamed at him and handed out the little box. “I baked some cookies for you.” 

He baked cookies for me, Arthur screamed, could this Merlin be more perfect??? 

Arthur slowly took over the box; his face was completely red. 

“May I come in?” Merlin asked. 

It took a while for him to comprehend. 

“Of course, of course.” 

Merlin walked in and looked around his house in awe. 

“Your house is beautiful!” 

“Thank you…” 

This was all coming too fast, so Arthur made an excuse to escape. 

“Um, I, um, going to the kitchen…” 

“Do you need help?” 

“No, no, I mean, just sit down and stay… ” 

What the hell was he saying??? 

Arthur quickly pulled out a chair from the dining table. Merlin smiled and sat down. After retreating to the kitchen, Arthur immediately texted Gwaine, but he didn’t reply. So in the end, Arthur called him. 

“Where are you? Merlin was already here!” 

“Oh, I’m sorry, Arthur, I can’t be there today. A last minute thing.” Gwaine didn’t really sound apologetic. 

“You need to be here Gwaine! Percy already texted me saying that he could not come today!” 

Arthur paced around worriedly, trying to keep his voice low. 

“Isn’t that great, now you can be with Merlin alone!” 

“I’m starting to think you set me up.” 

“No, I’m not.” 

“You’re lying.” 

Before he could utter another word, Merlin called out.

“Are you okay, Arthur?” 

“Yes, yes, I’m fine!” Arthur shouted over the phone. 

“Shit, need to go.” 

Did he just hear Gwaine smirk? 

But Arthur had no time caring what he had done. When he got out of the kitchen, Merlin was still sitting at the dining table, obviously waiting for him. 

“I’m sorry… Gwaine and Percy can’t make it today…” Arthur said, not sure what to do. 

“Oh. That’s okay. Shall we start then?” 

“Su… sure.” 

There weren’t a lot for them to do without the other two members of their group, so they finished after only half an hour. They sat, smiling at each other awkwardly, not really sure what was the next step. Arthur tried very hard to find something to say, but whenever he met Merlin’s eyes, the words on the tip of his tongue were gone again. 

“Do you want to see me doing magic trick?” Merlin finally asked, taking out a deck of cards from his backpack. 

“Sure.” 

Merlin started to shuffle the cards clumsily. Even though Arthur wasn’t a good card player, he thought Merlin might be an even worse one than him. 

“I just started to learn some card tricks online.” He said as he continued to shuffle and a few cards dropped to the floor. 

“Oops.” Merlin said awkwardly and bent down to retrieve them. 

“Let me.” 

Arthur helped Merlin gathered the cards and their fingers brushed. It sent a shiver down Arthur’s spine. But this time, it was Merlin who blushed. 

“Thank you.” 

“You’re welcome.” 

Arthur’s heart skipped a beat when he saw Merlin gave him a shy smile. 

He was so damn cute!!! 

After a few pretty lame tricks (but of course Arthur would never say that to Merlin), Arthur slowly gained more courage. He looked at the clock hanging on the wall. It was only 2 pm. 

“Um, Merlin, are you free today?” Without waiting for Merlin’s response, Arthur continued to say. “I just wonder maybe you would like to stay for a little longer, maybe we can watch a movie or something?” 

Wow, was he asking Merlin for a date now? 

Without any delay, Merlin gave Arthur one of his brightest smiles that always made Arthur’s knees weak. 

“I’d love to!” 

“You do?” 

Arthur couldn’t believe this, everything went better than he had expected. 

They ended up watching two Arthur-forgot-what-their-names were movies, and Merlin even stayed for dinner with Arthur’s father and sister. Uther praised Merlin as a polite young man, and Morgana fussed over how adorable Merlin was. And Arthur? He felt like he was floating in heaven, having become so much closer to the boy he loved. His smile was so big when he went to bed that night.

.....

“Hey, how was your date with Merlin yesterday?” Gwaine asked Arthur when they were having lunch at the school’s cafeteria. 

“It wasn’t a date, okay?” 

Deep down in his heart, he knew he probably did have a date with Merlin, but he would never admit that to Gwaine. 

“Did you kiss him?” He sat closer to Arthur. 

“No, oh my god, Gwaine, we just started to know each other, alright?” 

“But you like him a lot, why don’t you just show him?” Arthur put down his sandwich. 

“Percy, can you please tell Gwaine to shut up?” 

Percy shrugged. “Can’t help you, sorry, Arthur.” 

“I can see it in Merlin’s eyes, he loves you too.” Gwaine continued to say. 

Arthur narrowed his eyes and let out a snort. “What do you know about love?” 

From what Arthur had heard, Gwaine had gone on dates with a lot of girls, but none of them worked out as far as he knew. 

“More than you do, Arthur.” 

Before Arthur could come up with another sarcastic remark, Merlin walked by them. 

“May I join you?” 

“Of course, Merlin, sit.” Gwaine immediately said, pushing Percy over to let out a space for Merlin. 

“I had a great time yesterday, Arthur.” Merlin smiled sweetly. 

Arthur blushed furiously in front of his friends and stammered. 

“I… did… too…” 

And heard Gwaine and Percy snickered beside them. 

 

That afternoon, the four of them stayed after school in the library to finish their literature class project. They worked well together and their topic was particularly interesting to them all- the Arthurian Legend. Merlin needed to leave early, but the others could stay for a little longer. 

“I like him.” Gwaine said loudly after Merlin had left. 

Arthur snapped his fingers and said teasingly. “Hey, hey, hey, he’s mine, remember.” 

“What? I just said I like him as a friend.” 

“Merlin is a nice kid.” Percy said without looking at his two friends. 

“I really need to create more opportunities to go out with Merlin…” Arthur murmured to himself. “need to show him that I like him…” 

“Why don’t you invite him to our game next week?” 

“I’m not sure Merlin likes soccer.” 

“Arthur, this is not about whether Merlin likes soccer or not, this is all about creating more opportunities. And Merlin likes you, he’ll come.” 

“I’m not sure I believe you.” 

“Do you want to bet?” 

“I don’t want to bet with you, Gwaine.”

 

Arthur thought of texting Merlin that night to invite him to the game, but after careful thinking, he believed asking Merlin face to face tomorrow would be more sincere. So the next day, when the two met at the locker room area, Arthur asked. 

“Hey, Merlin, I’m wondering whether you’re interested in coming to our game next Saturday? We’re going to play against Avalon High. No pressure if you…” Before he could finish, Merlin immediately replied. 

“I would love to, Arthur! When would it be?” 

Arthur was too surprised, so he stammered. 

“Oh, it’s at… at 11 am.” 

“I’ll be there, Arthur.” 

Merlin beamed at him, leaving Arthur melting into a happy puddle.

 

When the next Saturday arrived, Arthur was eagerly looking for Merlin in the crowd of audience while he was warming up. 

“He’ll come, don’t worry.” Gwaine said. 

Arthur had told him that Merlin had texted him that he would be here yesterday night. However, when the game started, there was still no sign of Merlin. Arthur sighed. The disappointment was obvious on his face. 

“He has the tendency to be late, Arthur.” Percy comforted him with a pat on his shoulder.

The first half of the game was over, but still, Merlin hadn’t shown up. But a few seconds into the second half, Merlin showed up, breathing hard and his face flushed. He spotted Arthur and waved at him. He was holding a folded poster under his armpit. Arthur was so happy that he almost slipped when Gwaine passed him the ball. 

When he had a spare moment, Arthur looked towards Merlin, and saw that he had opened the poster and held it high up in the air. The words were colorful and in a huge font. 

‘GO ARTHUR, YOU'RE THE BEST!!!’ 

It didn’t help that Merlin was also shouting the words out loud and jumping up and down. Arthur felt his face reddened, and before he could turn his attention back to the game, he heard someone shouting his name. Then he fell into darkness.

 

When he woke up, he suffered a huge headache, and Arthur wondered temporary what had just happened. 

“What…” He opened his eyes and saw Merlin cocked his head to aside and smiled at him. 

Gaius, the school nurse, was also beside him. He turned his head slightly and saw Gwaine and Percy stood at the other side of his bed. He then realized he was actually in the school’s health center. 

“What…” Arthur asked again. 

“You were hit by the ball.” Gaius said matter of factly. 

“I was…” 

He remembered now. 

He was looking at Merlin, shy but happy, then one of his teammates was about to pass him the ball, but he hadn’t the time to react. 

Oh my god, that was so embarrassing, Arthur thought. He was hit by a ball in the head, THE CAPTAIN OF CAMELOT HIGH SOCCER TEAM WAS HIT BY A BALL IN THE HEAD!!! 

Arthur just wanted to dig a hole and hid in it. 

And he let Merlin, the one he wanted to impress the most, saw that, oh, extra embarrassing. 

“Take some rest, Arthur.” Nurse Gaius said. 

Merlin looked down at him in concern. 

“I’m sorry, Arthur, if I wasn’t late and distracted you, you wouldn’t be hit by the ball.” 

“It’s not your fault, Merlin.” Gwaine said. 

“Gwaine was right, it’s not your fault, it was me being stupid and useless… the Captain of…” 

“You’re not stupid and useless, Arthur! Don’t ever say that!” 

Arthur startled when he heard Merlin’s determined voice. 

“You’ll always be my hero.” 

Arthur hadn’t had the time to think when Merlin bent down and kissed him. Arthur held out his hand and pressed the back of Merlin’s head in order to push him down deeper into the kiss. He didn’t even care now that he was making out in front of his friends and Gaius. 

Everything was so right with Merlin. 

Gwaine and Percy looked at each other and Gwaine muttered a 'yes!!' under his breath, and gave Percy a high-five. 

“Okay, boys, nothing to see here.” 

Nurse Gaius pushed Gwaine and Percy out of the health center and closed the curtains around Arthur’s bed leaving the two alone. 

“Be my boyfriend, Merlin?” 

Arthur held out a hand to caress Merlin’s cheek. 

“For as long as you wish.” Merlin smiled. 

“That means forever.” 

They smiled at each other and Arthur pulled Merlin down for another kiss. 

 

\- The End-


End file.
